McGinnis: Sinbad to play Connxtions

The world-famous comedian, who has numerous TV series, movies, stand-up specials and more than 25 years on the road under his belt, said in an interview that every city has a feel and flavor all its own — but Toledo’s is one he hasn’t successfully tuned into just yet.

“Since 1982, when I started, I’ve been through the city many times,” Sinbad said. “You know, Cleveland has its own funk, and Dayton has its own funk, and Cincinnati — but Toledo, I never could figure out. It’s one of the hardest cities in Ohio, and one of the hardest cities on the road to figure out … there’s a strange flow there, and it’s very hard to figure out.

“The problem is never the material, the problem is trying to get people to come to the show, and then trying to figure out the flow of the city. Every city has a flow. Toledo has its own — I think because it’s sandwiched in between Detroit and other places, it’s got a mix of all this other stuff.”

But after a quarter century on the road as a comic, Sinbad’s not giving up on the Glass City. He returns to Toledo on August 6, 7 and 8, for appearances at Connxtions Comedy Club.

Though he grew into one of the most recognizable comedians of the late 20th century, the young man born David Atkins didn’t plan on being a comic — he just knew he wanted to be the center of attention.

“First, I just knew I wasn’t gonna work 9 to 5. I knew I wanted to be an entertainer, and it wasn’t so much as a comedian — I wanted to act, I wanted to play basketball, I’d be in a band, I’d play drums. It was many things. Comedy was not the highest on the list, either,” Sinbad said.

Sinbad

He said he was always pretty funny as a kid, but around eighth grade he realized how to control the way a laugh worked. Then, in college, “my assistant basketball coach actually wrote a routine for me, when some new recruits came in town. And I got up on stage. It wasn’t great, but it didn’t suck.”

His major epiphany came while serving in the US Air Force.

“The Air Force talent show really was it. I watched a guy come through named T.A. Burrows, and he was a ventriloquist. And I said, that’s it. That spoke to me, I’m supposed to be a comedian. It just hit me, I can do this.”

His first real breakout moments as a comic came through “Star Search,” a 1980s talent competition that spotlighted up-and-comers. Sinbad finds a world of difference between the show which first launched his career, and the reality competitions which air today.

“The biggest difference to ‘America’s Got Talent’ is you’ll find some raw people there, and you never know who’s gonna show up. ‘Star Search’ was set up to find people who already were on the path, and needed that last little kick in the butt. But you never saw a bad contestant. There was never a bad singer, there was never a bad comic. Everybody was accomplished, they just needed that last little push. So that’s what I think made ‘Star Search’ a little different.”

Over his career, Sinbad has always seemed to portray a very specific, positive worldview — one that he insists is not intentional, it’s just the way he looks at life.

“For me, it’s not so much not being cynical, or even positive. I say it as I see it. I try to be as positive as I can. At times I’m cynical, there are times I look at it as being crazy. I think I’m honest, that’s the most important thing. I think people got so caught up on me being a ‘clean’ comic, I hate the word. Just call me a comic.”

Among the topics to be justifiably cynical about is modern television. In the late 1980s, when Sinbad began appearing on “Cosby Show” spin-off “A Different World,” the number of quality roles for African-Americans seemed to be on the rise. But now, over twenty years later, as he attempts to pitch a new show to networks himself, Sinbad noted how that trend seems to be going in reverse.

“Every time we make progress, then they take all the shows off the air. We make progress, then it stops. In fact, you never get a chance to get parity. When’s the last young black actor or actress who was a breakout star, able to keep growing and growing? There’s always one — there’s Will Smith, there’s Denzel, there’s Wesley Snipes, there’s Don Cheadle. But you always got one, there’s always one,” Sinbad said.

“The audience is ready for it. The people who run TV, they can’t even pick out a hit show, think about it. They can’t figure out how to make a hit show right now. So what they’re pushing is, ‘we can’t make it too black, or too Hispanic, or too Asian,’ because they think America — they ask, ‘Will America buy it?’ Well, I am American. This is America.”

And to Toledo, Sinbad makes a promise. “You come out to my show, you’re going to have fun. And you’re gonna hear my point of view, and — those who have not seen me live, you know, you thought I was funny on tape? You need to come and see me live.”

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Pop Goes the Culture

McGinnis: Hal Sparks to appear at Connxtions May 2

Hal Sparks is a modern renaissance man. He has such a wealth of experience in so many areas — comedy, acting, music and more — that it’s enough to make anyone envious. And a conversation with him reveals a man who feels compelled to keep many plates spinning at once, for both emotional and professional satisfaction.

His hilarious stand-up is what brings him to Toledo — he’ll be appearing May 2 at Connxtions comedy club. But the length and variety of his resume is incredibly impressive: Actor in several big movies and TV series, including the hit Showtime production “Queer as Folk.” Host and cast member of several reality series. Leads his own heavy metal band, Zero 1. Trained at Second City in Chicago. Regular guest on VH1′s “I Love…” shows. And on, and on.

Hal Sparks

This kind of diversity is rare in modern entertainment, as Sparks himself admitted in an interview. “You don’t get a lot of chance at variety in Hollywood. They really actively work to not let you do that. It’s far too confusing for publicists and agents to try and fit a well-rounded artist into a category and sell them. So they’d much rather you just do one thing.”

But Sparks treasures his penchant for doing things differently. “I actually love the fact that I really can’t tell where somebody likes my work from when I first meet them. It’s funny when people come up and go, ‘I love the show, your show is so great,’ and I literally have to go, ‘Which one?’”

Sparks clearly looks forward to such questions during his stop in the Glass City, though this isn’t his first experience with the area.

“I’ve been through Toledo as a kid, especially because I have a lot of family in Ohio, like in Cleveland,” he said. “I was born in Cincinnati. So, we’d do a lot of rolling around the state. This is my first time performing in Toledo, though.”

Sparks brings over 20 years of stand-up experience to his show, but to many audiences, he’s probably most famous for his role as Michael Novotny on “Queer as Folk.” The character is far removed from Sparks’s real-life demeanor, which he says occasionally surprises attendees.

“‘Queer as Folk’ fans will show up, expecting to see my character. And when they see my personality, and it’s so diametrically opposed to who he is — and I don’t mean strictly in terms of sexuality, I mean manner and how I talk, how I gesture, and all that — that it’s kind of a shock to their systems on occasion. And it takes about five minutes for them to do a reset, you know.

“But other than that, it really hasn’t effected my stand-up, because it’s a different animal entirely.”

Sparks finds the differences between the many facets of his career crucial to his personal success, and said that everything he does uniquely helps to satisfy him, both creatively and emotionally.

“Stand-up is the honest expression of yourself. Acting is the channeling of emotional truth through another person’s personality. And so, really, they could not be more different,” he stated.

He elaborated that every individual creative endeavor has its own roots in an emotional impulse. His band, for example, “gives me an honest outlet for certain emotions that aren’t appropriate for stand-up. And so, I can use stand-up for what it’s really meant for, which is social commentary and the dealing of momentary irritations that you would experience. I think true rage and true sorrow really don’t belong in stand-up, they don’t work really well there.”

And what can an audience expect out of a Hal Sparks comedy performance?

“The question has always been, is my stand-up more brilliant than funny, or more funny than brilliant? I guess that’s a question they’ll have to answer for themselves,” he joked.

“In all honesty, I’m the kind of performer that I feel like I owe the audience a show. And so, I work hard to deliver a really funny show.”

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